Five Eagles earn Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 1A All-State honors

Central Catholic High School’s run to the Division IV semifinals was rewarded with five football players earning Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 1A All-State honors, including three first-team selections.
Senior Samarick Paul earned first-team honors at wide receiver, while senior Thomas Garber was a first-team selection on the offensive line.
On defense, senior Ja’len Johnson earned first-team honors at defensive back.
The Eagles had two honorable mention selections, senior defender Greg Leger and junior running back Chris Singleton.
Central Catholic finished its 2016 season with an 8-5 mark, falling to eventual Division IV state runner-up Ascension Episcopal, 31-21, in the semifinals.
Senior Sam Philley of Class 1A semifinalist Oak Grove was Outstanding Offensive Player, while senior Chris Allen of Division IV state champion Southern Lab was named Outstanding Defensive Player. Kevin Magee of Class 1A state champion Logansport was name Class 1A Coach of the Year.
Paul finished his senior season with 41 catches for 781 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed 24 times for 277 yards and three more scores.
“I thought Samarick had a fantastic year coming back from that knee surgery where he missed his whole junior season,” Central Catholic Coach Tommy Minton said. “He did a great job at receiver, was a big play threat for us.”
Minton also said that Paul was solid in coverage at defensive back where he played roughly half of the team’s snaps.
He also filled in at quarterback in a wildcat role after starter Blake Byrne was injured in the playoffs.
“He was very effective there, too,” Minton said. “He gave us a big-play element on offense.”
Garber, a returning first-team all-state offensive lineman, blocked for an offense that churned out 4,453 yards (2,887 rushing and 1,566 passing). The Eagles averaged 342.5 yards a contest.
“In talking to the coaches around the district the last two years, they just talked about his explosiveness at the point of attack, all of the pulling he did and the great blocking he did on pulls,” Minton said. “He was a key force to our running game this year. A big percentage of the yardage we made was either right behind him or with him pulling and leading the play, so he definitely was an integral part of our offense.”
Defensively, Johnson, a University of Louisiana at Lafayette commit, also is a returning first-team all-state selection in the defensive backfield. During his senior season, he recorded 69 total tackles, six interceptions, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
“He was the second-leading tackler on the team and the leading interceptor on the team. … We would move Ja’len around,” Minton said. “If they had a big receiver on the outside that needed to be covered, Ja’len would cover him. If we were playing a team that ran the ball a lot, we’d use him in the box like a third linebacker, and he just basically was a big asset to us and did anything we asked him to do on defense.”
Leger, an outside linebacker, recorded 81 total tackles, 12 sacks, 18 tackles for loss and forced seven fumbles.
“He basically forced teams to run the other way,” Minton said of Leger, who also was the District 7-1A Defensive Most Valuable Player. “When you start talking to coaches about their game plan, they game planned to try to run away from him. He led us in tackles for loss. He led us in sacks.”
Minton described Leger’s seven forced fumbles this year as “phenomenal.”
“Those are the type of plays that turn a game around,” Minton said.
Singleton, a first-year starter at running back, rushed 211 times for 1,424 yards and scored 24 touchdowns.
His accumulated more than 1,400 yards on the ground despite missing two-plus games due to injury.
“He stepped up and did a great job. … He’s a strong runner,” Minton said. “He would almost always make first contact miss him. He would break that tackle, and that’s the mark of a good back if you ask me, the yardage you get after contact.”
Other representatives from District 7-1A earning all-state honors included Ronald LeBlanc of Ascension Episcopal (first-team wide receiver), Mike Remondet of Ascension Episcopal (honorable mention), Jake Vascocu of Ascension Episcopal (honorable mention), Mack Kelly of Ascension Episcopal (honorable mention), Ethan Danos of Ascension Episcopal (honorable mention), Zack Clement of Lafayette Christian (honorable mention) and Brontre Griffin of Highland Baptist (honorable mention).
(Courtesy of www.theadvocate.com/sports)